Norway's Ocean Yield is offering a $940,000 sweetener to bondholders to clear its takeover by US private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR).
The company has called a meeting of holders of three issues worth a combined NOK 1.625bn ($188m) to approve a change of control of the bonds.
To help this pass on 5 October, the company is offering a fee of 0.5% of the principal on the debt.
Bondholders have to agree that the takeover and a potential delisting of Ocean Yield from the Oslo Stock Exchange will not constitute a change of control event.
Norwegian investment bank Fearnley Securities said the sale and leaseback specialist's outstanding bonds have tightened slightly in price since the offer was announced earlier in September.
They are currently trading in line with the put option price of 101%.
Transaction worth $829.5m
KKR has pledged to expand Ocean Yield after it agreed a NOK 7.2bn ($829.5m) takeover.
A KKR unit called Octopus Bidco reached a deal with major Ocean Yield shareholder Kjell Inge Rokke to launch a cash offer at NOK 41 per share, 26% more than the NOK 32.54 closing price on the day before the deal was revealed.
The private equity group will get its hands on 63 vessels worth $2.1bn.
Ocean Yield's independent directors have accepted the offer following a "strategic process", Oslo-listed Ocean Yield said.
A source familiar with KKR told TradeWinds that the group became involved as a result of a strategic review by Rokke's Aker group of its ownership interest in Ocean Yield.
The source added the group has "significant experience and deep roots in infrastructure investing".
Rokke's Aker, the largest shareholder through subsidiary Aker Capital, owns 61.65% of Ocean Yield.
The offer will begin by 4 October and be open for 21 days.
If KKR reaches 90% acceptance, it will launch a compulsory offer for the rest of the stock and could delist the company.
Lars Solbakken, chief executive of Ocean Yield, has said that KKR's experience, capital and network will help Ocean Yield grow into a substantially larger company.
